George Anderson bottling reference materials.

What’s Inside ...

CDIAC’s Corner . . . . . . . . 2

Trends Online . . . . . . . . . . 3

Year of the Ocean . . . . . . . 4

New NDPs . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Poplar Updates . . . . . . . . 10

Russian Publications . . . 10

New Databases . . . . . . . . 11

Databases Available . . . . 12

Recent and Relevant . . . . 13

CDIAC’s Bookshelf . . . . 15

GCEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Order Form . . . . . . . . . . . 17

DOE Programs . . . . . . . 19

Reference Materials for Oceanic

Carbon Dioxide Measurements

by Andrew G. Dickson, University of California, San Diego

A major goal of modern oceanography

is the coordinated study of oceanic

processes on a global scale. The impetus

comes from a desire to understand the

factors that control climate and how

climate changes affect biogeochemical

systems. In particular, a clear grasp of

the circulation of the oceans, as well as

the associated physical processes and

their biological, geological, and

chemical consequences, is needed.

One of the first questions that should be

asked about the analytical measurements in such global studies is: How

reliable are they? This has been a

principal concern of the Joint Global

Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) program,

which required that measurements made

at different times, by different scientists,

from different laboratories, both in the

United States and abroad, be comparable and correct; reliability will be an

important factor in the design of any

global ocean observing system.

Although the study of the oceanic

carbon dioxide system has been going

on for over 120 years, assuring the

quality and comparability of measurements is still difficult today. However, a

major advance has recently 

Continued on p. 16

Fall 1998

Issue No. 25

http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov

 Co-editors: Sonja Jones

Karen Gibson

CDIAC Communications is funded by

the U.S. Department of Energy’s

Environmental Sciences Division,

Office of Biological and Environmental

Research. It is published periodically

by the Carbon Dioxide Information

Analysis Center, Environmental

Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National

Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN,

37831-6335, which is managed for the

U.S. Department of Energy by

Lockheed Martin Energy Research

Corp. under Contract No.

DE-AC05-96OR22464. CDIAC

Communications is distributed free of

charge. ISSN 1053-1106.
Fall 1998

2 CDIAC Communications

Global warming. The term has become a part of our everyday vocabulary over the past few decades.

In June 1988, NASA climate modeler Dr. James Hansen testified before the U.S. Senate that he

was “99% certain” that global warming was taking place. His testimony touched off a lot of media

attention and caused the “man on the street” to consider what since then has become a complicated and

even emotional environmental issue. The public has been swamped by media reports covering a number of

other reportedly global warming-related (in a fuzzy sort of way) phenomena: the greenhouse effect,

increases in greenhouse gases, the ozone hole, major El Niño events, sea-level rise, melting glaciers,

intense hurricanes, floods, droughts, summer heat waves, and on and on. The five warmest years in the

modern global mean temperature record have all occurred in the 1990s; 1997 was the warmest year to

date, and after its first 10 months, 1998 was poised to shatter 1997’s record. Are humans causing global

warming and in effect experimenting with the global climate system? As CDIAC’s resident climatologist,

I’m regularly asked this question by our users who don’t happen to be scientists. While there is well-documented

evidence of anthropogenic effects, such as the buildup of atmospheric CO2 and decreasing stratospheric ozone

levels, there is far from universal agreement on what role we may be playing in observed climate variation. It’s

important to realize that the greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring phenomenon; atmospheric water vapor,

clouds, and other trace gases trap heat near the surface and keep the planet much warmer than it would otherwise be

without an atmosphere. The multibillion dollar question is: Are rising greenhouse gas concentrations strengthening

this effect enough to artificially warm the planet?

Since 1988, climate scientists from around the world have worked together under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to try to answer this question. One conclusion is that global mean surface

temperature has risen roughly 0.5(C (1(F) over the past century. A recent IPCC report, Climate Change 1995:

The Science of Climate Change, stated, “The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human 

influence on global climate.” This caused quite a stir, for not all in the scientific community agree that 

the evidence supports this statement; some feel we are mainly witnessing natural climate variability. 

There are even those scientists who feel increasing atmospheric CO2 and any resultant warming 

may not be a bad thing, because of experimentally demonstrated benefits for plant growth and 

likely increases in growing season length. The next IPCC report is due out in 2001. Stay tuned.

So, are we getting any closer to being able to say with absolute certainty that we are altering 

earth’s climate (i.e., causing global warming)? I think most would agree that a considerable 

body of evidence is mounting, but there is still much to be done in observing, analyzing, 

and modeling the climate system before the debate will be laid to rest. In the meantime,

we at CDIAC will continue do our best to ensure that critical, quality-assured, global 

change databases are made available to researchers, policymakers, educators, students, 

and the interested lay public. Keep a special eye out for ever-expanding holdings in 

our online TRENDS publication (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/trends.htm).

We at CDIAC often use the Internet just as you do (i.e., to seek out information of 

interest to us in our work). A Web search on “global warming” or “climate change” 

will generate tens of thousands of hits. We’ve recently compiled a list of outstanding global climate change links that we hope you will find informative in 

your study of this issue (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/pns/gcclinks.html). 

We’d be glad to hear from you if you know of any high-quality links we’ve 

 left off the list. Thanks.

 Dale Kaiser

 CDIAC Deputy Director and Task Leader for Global Change Data
Fall 1998

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 3

Trends Online

CDIAC recently

added a new

section to Trends

Online entitled

“Methane

Emissions” (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/

meth/methane.htm). The initial data set in this

section is annual estimates of global anthropogenic methane emissions for the period 1860–

1994. The data were contributed by David Stern

(Australian National University) and Robert

Kaufmann (Boston University) and prepared for

online publication by CDIAC’s Bob Cushman.

Methane is an important greenhouse gas, and a

knowledge of anthropogenic emissions is

important for studies of the biogeochemical

cycling of methane and for consideration of

strategies for reducing methane emissions.

CDIAC also added and revised several key

records offered in the “Atmospheric Carbon

Dioxide and Carbon Isotopes” section of Trends

Online (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/co2/

contents.htm). These new records were prepared

by CDIAC’s Mónica Martínez (summer student,

University of Puerto Rico) and Tom Boden.

Ice-core CO2 records from Law Dome,

Antarctica http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/

co2/lawdome.html

These important ice core records were

contributed by D. M. Etheridge, L. P. Steele,

R. L. Langenfelds and R. J. Francey (CSIRO),

J.-M. Barnola (Laboratoire de Glaciologie et

Géophysique de l’Environnement), and V. I.

Morgan (Antarctic CRC and Australian

Antarctic Division). These data provide

atmospheric CO2 mixing ratios from 1006 A.D.

to 1978 A.D. The air enclosed in the three ice

cores has unparalleled age resolution and

extends into recent decades because of the high 

rate of snow accumulation at Law Dome. The

Law Dome records show that preindustrial CO2

mixing ratios were in the range 275–284 parts

per million, with the lower levels occurring

from 1550 to 1800 A.D., probably as a result of

colder global climate. The Law Dome ice core

CO2 records show major growth in atmospheric

CO2 levels over the industrial period, except

during 1935–1945 A.D., when levels stabilized

or decreased slightly. Such data have a number

of important applications, such as studying the

relationship between greenhouse gases and

climate change and calibrating models of the

global carbon cycle.


13CO2 record from Cape Grim, Tasmania

http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/

co2/capegrim.html

Roger Francey and Colin Allison (CSIRO)

contributed this important isotopic carbon

record to the Trends Online collection. The

Cape Grim in situ record is possibly the most

accurate representation of global atmospheric


13C behavior during the 1980s and 1990s.

Changes in 
13C of atmospheric CO2 are useful

in elucidating the relative roles of oceanic and

terrestrial uptake of CO2 from fossil fuel

emissions.

Updates to the Scripps CO2 records

http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/co2/

sio-keel.htm

Dave Keeling and Tim Whorf (Scripps

Institution of Oceanography) provided revisions

and updates through 1997 to the monthly

atmospheric CO2 records for Mauna Loa (see

page 10); Barrow, Alaska; American Samoa;

and the South Pole. These records constitute

some of the longest modern atmospheric CO2

records available. 
Fall 1998

4 CDIAC Communications

Updates to German CO2 records

http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/co2/uba.htm

Revisions and updates through 1997 for the

continuous atmospheric CO2 records from

Schauinsland and Westerland were provided by 

Karin Uhse (Umweltbundesamt, Offenbach) and

Martina Schmidt and Ingeborg Levin

(University of Heidelberg). These records

provide key long-term continental European

records. 

The International Year of the Ocean

1998 is the

International Year

of the Ocean

(YOTO), by

declaration of the

United Nations.

The purpose of

YOTO is to

promote public awareness and understanding of

the oceans, a dominant aspect of the

environment. The oceans are also a key player

in global change issues. Just consider the

interest in such front-page topics as El Niño,

hurricanes, and rising sea level. The U.S. federal

role in YOTO is managed by the Ocean

Principals Group, composed of civilian and

military agencies (including DOE) with oceanrelated activities. The Ocean Principals Group

has identified several themes (maritime

transportation; national security; ocean

resources; marine environmental quality;

recreation and tourism; and weather, climate and

natural hazards) and four crosscutting issues

(science, technology, and research; legal

framework; management of ocean areas, uses

and resources; and education and exploration).

One activity that you may find of particular

interest is Project YOTO Drifters, presented by

the National Oceanographic Partnership

Program (NOPP). NOPP was established in law

to promote national goals through improved

knowledge of the oceans and to coordinate and

strengthen oceanographic efforts by identifying 

and carrying out partnerships among federal

agencies, academia, industry, and other

components of the ocean science community,

with a focus on data, resources, education, and

communication. DOE and eleven other federal

agencies form the partnership.

Project YOTO Drifters is engaging the

education community by making available realtime data from dozens of “drifters”—

instrumented devices that float on the ocean

surface and drift with the ocean currents,

transmitting data on location, salinity, seasurface temperature, and other variables via

satellite. The project is coordinated by Dr. Ellen

Prager, an oceanographer from the U.S.

Geological Survey. DOE supports the project by

providing the Project YOTO Drifters’ Web page

(http://drifters.doe.gov/), which has been

developed by CDIAC’s Forrest Hoffman, with

important linked information furnished by other

NOPP partners. From the Project YOTO

Drifters Web page, users can track individual

drifters (and predict movement of icebergs and

pollutants), study global warming, monitor

El Niño and La Niña, follow hurricanes, verify

satellite data, build their own drifters, see

images of the oceans, ask questions of

professional oceanographers, and follow links to

related Web sites.

Check out the Project YOTO Drifters on the

Internet, and have fun in this, the International

Year of the Ocean! 
Fall 1998

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 5

Location of Stations in the 223-station U.S.S.R. network.

New Numeric Data Packages Available

CDIAC’s data holdings provide coverage in a number of areas relevant to the greenhouse effect and

global climate change. Such areas include records of the concentration of carbon dioxide and other

radioactively active gases in the atmosphere; the role of the terrestrial biosphere and the oceans in the

biogeochemical cycles of greenhouse gases; emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere; long-term

climate trends; the effects of elevated carbon dioxide on vegetation; and the vulnerability of coastal

areas to rising sea level. Data that are thoroughly checked and documented are released by CDIAC as

numeric data packages (NDPs). Recently released NDPs are described in this section. The data and

documentation are available from CDIAC’s Web site (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/), from CDIAC’s

anonymous FTP area (cdiac.esd.ornl.gov), and in a variety of media upon request. Technical questions

(e.g., methodology or accuracy) should be directed to the CDIAC staff member who is responsible for

preparing the individual NDP.

Six- and Three-Hourly Meteorological Observations from 223 U.S.S.R.

Stations

V. N. Razuvaev, E. B. Apasova, and R. A. Martuganov, All-Russian Research Institute of

Hydrometeorological Information–World Data Centre, Obninsk, Russia

Prepared by: Dale Kaiser, CDIAC

NDP-048 (1998) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/ndp048/ndp048.html)

This database, an update to the data released in

1995, contains 6- and 3-hourly meteorological

observations from a 223-station network of the

former Soviet Union.

These data have

been made available

through cooperation

between the two

principal climate

data centers of the

United States and

the former Soviet

Union: the National

Climatic Data Center

(NCDC), in

Asheville, North

Carolina, and the

All-Russian Research Institute of

Hydrometeorological Information–World Data

Centre (RIHMI-WDC) in Obninsk, Russia. The

first version of this database extended through

the mid-1980s (with the ending year dependent

upon the station), and this update includes data

through 1990. Station records consist of 6- and

3-hourly observations of some 24 meteorological variables including temperature, past and

present weather type,

precipitation amount,

cloud amount and

type, sea-level pressure, relative humidity, and wind direction

and speed. The 6-

hourly observations

extend from 1936

through 1965; the

3-hourly observations

extend from 1966

through 1990.

The observations provided in this database

represent a wealth of meteorological information for a large and climatologically important

portion of the earth’s land area and should prove

extremely useful for a wide variety of regional

climate change studies. 
Fall 1998

6 CDIAC Communications

Corrected 14C measurements over time.

Carbon-14 Measurements in Surface Water CO2 from the Atlantic, Indian,

and Pacific Oceans, 1965–1994 

Reidar Nydal, Department of Physics, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology,

Trondheim, Norway

Prepared by: Antoinette Brenkert and Tom Boden, CDIAC

NDP-057A (1998) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/ndp057a/ndp057a.htm)

A total of 950 ocean surface water observations

were made from 1965 through 1994 by the

Radiological Dating Laboratory (RDL) at the

Norwegian

Institute of

Technology. The

measurements were

taken at 30

stations in

the Atlantic

Ocean, 14

stations in

the Indian

Ocean, and

38 stations

in the

Pacific

Ocean.

Thirty-two

of the 950

samples

were taken

in the Atlantic Ocean during the R/V Andenes

research cruise. Carbon-14 was measured in 871

of the 950 samples, and those measurements

have been corrected (14C) for isotopic

fractionation and radioactive decay. The 14C

values range between 113.3 and 280.9 per

mille (‰) and have a mean value of 101.3 ‰.

The highest yearly mean (146.5 ‰) was

calculated for 1969, and the lowest yearly mean

value was calculated for 1990 (67.9 ‰),

illustrating a decrease over time. This decrease

was to be expected as a result of the ban on

atmospheric thermonuclear tests and the slow

mixing of the ocean surface waters with the 

deeper layers. The 14C values varied widely

depending on where and when the sample was

taken (i.e., upwelling areas, far northern or

southern

latitudes, near

freshwater

influxes,

temperature,

salinity). In

addition to the

corrected 14C

data, 13C data

used in

correcting the

14C data for

fractionation are

provided, as are

the temperature,

salinity, and

depth

measurements

and information

on where and

when the

samples were taken.

These data, coupled with other 14C data sets, can

lead to a greater understanding of the dynamic

carbon reservoir and lead to a crude picture of

anomalous sources and sinks at different geographical latitudes. The database is outstanding

for its inclusion of early 14C measurements,

broad spatial coverage of sampling, relative

consistency of sampling methods, and 14C calculation results corrected for isotopic fractionation and radioactive decay. This database

replaces previous versions published by Reidar

Nydal and the RDL. WDC-A database 
Fall 1998

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 7

Latitudinal distribution of carbon emission estimates.

Carbon Dioxide Emission Estimates from Fossil-Fuel Burning, Hydraulic

Cement Production, and Gas Flaring for 1995 on a One-Degree Grid Cell

Basis

Antoinette Brenkert, CDIAC

NDP-058A (1998) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/ndps/ndp058a.html)

This data package presents the gridded (onedegree latitude by one-degree longitude)

summed emissions from fossil-fuel burning,

hydraulic cement production, and gas flaring for

1995. Analogous

to the data

presented in the

numeric data

package NDP-058

(which includes

estimates for 1950,

1960, 1970, 1980,

and 1990),

national emission

estimates from the

1995 United

Nations (UN)

Energy Statistics

Database,

hydraulic cement

production

estimates from the

U.S. Department

of the Interior’s

Bureau of Mines,

and supplemental

data on gas flaring

from the U.S.

Department of Energy’s Energy Information

Administration were processed by Marland et al.

following the methods of Marland and Rotty.

The only change in the methodology used to

calculate the national CO2 emission estimates

for 1995 was the implementation of separate

carbon coefficients for soft and hard coal; the

emissions estimates in NDP-058 were calculated

using a single carbon coefficient to characterize

the carbon content of all coals. To distribute the

national emission estimates from 1995 within 

each country, the population database developed

by Li (documented in CDIAC database

DB1016) was used as proxy. The structure of

the gridded 1995 emissions data file differs,

consequently, from

the 1950–1990

gridded emission

files in that

individual grid

cells may have

been partitioned

into more than one

country analogous

to Li’s population

database. A

country’s

representation in a

grid cell is

quantified by the

percentage of that

country’s land area

in a particular grid

cell and identified

by its UN

identification

code. The

percentages and

UN identification

codes were used to allocate the national CO2

emission estimates to the grid cells. Only those

grid cells with a UN identification code,

population estimate, and carbon emission

estimate are listed. Grid cells representing more

than one country are repeated for each country

represented. A number of manipulations of Li’s

population database were necessary (and

documented) to properly distribute the national

1995 CO2 emission estimates over each

country’s grid cells. WDC-A database
Fall 1998

8 CDIAC Communications

Effects of CO2 and Nitrogen Fertilization on Growth and Nutrient Content of

Juvenile Ponderosa Pine

Dale Johnson and Timothy Ball, Desert Research Institute, and Roger Walker, University of Nevada

Prepared by: Bob Cushman, CDIAC

NDP-061A (1998) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/ndp061a/ndp061a.htm)

This data package presents measured values of

plant diameter and height, biomass of plant

components, and nutrient (carbon, nitrogen,

phosphorus, sulfur, potassium, calcium, magnesium, boron, copper, iron, manganese, and zinc)

concentrations from a study of the effects of

carbon dioxide and nitrogen fertilization on ponderosa pine conducted in open-top chambers in

Placerville, California, from 1991 through 1996,

funded by DOE and other agencies. This data

set contains values from 1991 through 1993. 

These data may be used to study the effect that

elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide in

combination with various levels of nitrogen

fertilization have on the growth and nutrient

content of ponderosa pine, an important timber

species of western North America. Johnson et

al. used the data documented in this numeric

data package to evaluate two hypotheses:

(1) that elevated CO2 would increase growth and

yield of biomass per unit uptake of N even if N

is limiting, and (2) that elevated CO2 would

increase biomass yield per unit uptake of other,

nonlimiting nutrients only by growth dilution. 

This database can help quantify the response of

vegetation to rising atmospheric concentrations

of carbon dioxide caused by fossil-fuel combustion and land-use change. WDC-A database

Awards

CDIAC recently received a number of online and printed product awards from the Society for

Technical Communication (STC) in 1997 competitions. Three CDIAC online products winning

awards in the On-Line Competition of the Atlanta STC Chapter were

Excellence

“Carbon Dioxide, Hydrographic, and Chemical Data Obtained During the R/V Meteor

Cruise 18/1 in the North Atlantic Ocean”

(http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/oceans/ndp_056/

ndp056.html), submitted by Alexander Kozyr.

Achievement

CDIAC Communications, Spring 1997, Issue

No. 23 (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/newsletr/

spring97/spr97.htm), submitted by

Karen N. Gibson and Frederick M. O’Hara.

Achievement

The DOE Research Summary “Historical 

Variations in Terrestrial Biospheric Carbon

Storage” (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/pns/doers/

doer34/doer34.htm), submitted by

Wilfred M. Post, Anthony W. King,

Stan D. Wullschleger, Forrest M. Hoffman,

and Marvel D. Burtis.

Winning the Merit Award for Technical

Reports in the East Tennessee STC Chapter’s

1997 Technical Publications and Art

Competition was CDIAC’s NDP-057,

“Carbon-14 Measurements in Atmospheric

CO2 from Northern and Southern Hemisphere

Sites, 1962–1993,” submitted by

Thomas A. Boden and Virgene Zumbrunn. 
Fall 1998

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 9

Station locations during R/V Knorr expeditions in the South Pacific Ocean.

Carbon Dioxide, Hydrographic, and Chemical Data Obtained in the South

Pacific Ocean (WOCE Sections P16A/P17A, P17E/P19S, and P19C, R/V

Knorr, October 1992–April 1993) 

S. Rubin, J. G. Goddard, D. W. Chipman, T. Takahashi, S. C. Sutherland, Lamont-Doherty Earth

Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, and J. L. Reid, J. H. Swift, L. D. Talley,

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California

Prepared by: Alex Kozyr, CDIAC

NDP-065 (1998) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/oceans/ndp_065/ndp065.html)

The World Ocean plays a dynamic role in the

Earth’s climate: it captures heat from the sun,

transports it, and

releases it thousands

of miles away.

These oceanicsolar-atmospheric

interactions affect

winds, rainfall patterns, and temperatures on a global

scale. The oceans

also play a major

role in global

carbon-cycle processes. Carbon is

unevenly distributed

in the oceans

because of complex

circulation patterns

and biogeochemical cycles that include the

biological processes of photosynthesis in upper

layers and respiration in deep oceans. The

oceans are estimated to hold 38,000 gigatons of

carbon, 50 times more than the amount in the

atmosphere and 20 times more than the amount

held by plants, animals, and the soil. If only 2%

of the carbon stored in the oceans were released,

the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2)

would double. Every year, the amount of CO2

exchanged across the sea surface is 15 times

greater than the amount produced by the burning

of fossil fuels, deforestation, and other human

activities. 

The largest oceanographic experiment ever

attempted is the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). The goals of the DOE

funded CO2 survey include estimation of the

meridional transport

of inorganic carbon

in the Pacific Ocean

in a manner analogous to the oceanic

heat transport estimates, evaluation of

the exchange of CO2

between the atmosphere and the ocean,

and preparation of a

database suitable for

carbon- cycle modeling and the subsequent assessment of

the anthropogenic

CO2 increase in the

oceans. The final

data set is expected to cover approximately

23,000 stations.

This numeric data package presents the procedures and methods used in the CO2-related

measurements obtained during the 152-day

expedition of the Research Vessel (R/V) Knorr

along the WOCE Sections P16A/P17A, P17E/

P19S, and P19C, located in the South Pacific

Ocean. Measurements included total carbon dioxide concentration (TCO2), partial pressure of

CO2 (pCO2) measured at 4( and 20(C, salinity,

oxygen, nutrients, and chlorofluorocarbons

(CFCs). Pressure, temperature, salinity, and

oxygen were measured continuously with water

depth on each station by using an in situ sensor.

WDC-A database
Fall 1998

10 CDIAC Communications

Popular Updates

ALE/GAGE/AGAGE (June 1998)

(http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/ndps/alegage.html)

CDIAC released an updated and revised online

database from the global ALE/GAGE/AGAGE

monitoring network (DB1001), which provides

continuous high-frequency gas chromatographic

measurements of eight important

biogenic/anthropogenic gases, including

methane (CH4); nitrous oxide (N2O); the

chlorofluorocarbons CFCl3, CF2Cl2, and

CF2ClCFCl2; methyl chloroform (CH3CCl3);

chloroform (CHCl3); and carbon tetrachloride

(CCl4). This database has been one of CDIAC’s

“Top Ten” most-requested products, and it

supports analyses and monitoring related to both

the Kyoto Protocol (to control global warming

caused by elevated atmospheric concentrations

of greenhouse gases) and the Montreal Protocol

(to protect the Earth’s ozone layer). The data

were contributed by R. Prinn, D. Cunnold,

P. Fraser, R. Weiss, P. Simmonds, F. Alyea,

L. P. Steele, and D. Hartley; they were prepared

for online distribution by CDIAC’s Tom Boden.

The program began in 1978, and data through

September 1997 are now available for all five

existing sites: Cape Grim, Tasmania; Point

Matatula, American Samoa; Ragged Point, 

Barbados; Mace Head, Ireland; and Trinidad

Head, California (stations also previously

existed at Cape Meares, Oregon; and Adrigole,

Ireland). WDC-A database

Atmospheric CO2

Concentrations—Mauna Loa

Observatory, Hawaii, 1958–1997

(August 1998) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/

ndps/ndp001.html)

1997 marked the 40th anniversary of the Mauna

Loa atmospheric CO2 work being done by

Drs. Charles D. Keeling and Tim Whorf, which

is funded by DOE and other agencies. With data

now extending from 1958–1997, this record

represents the longest continuous record of

atmospheric CO2 concentrations in the world.

Because of the favorable site location,

continuous monitoring, and careful selection

and scrutiny of the data, the Mauna Loa record

is considered to be a precise record and a

reliable indicator of the regional trend in the

concentrations of atmospheric CO2 in the middle

layers of the troposphere and is critical to CO2-

related research. The Mauna Loa record shows a

15.2% increase in the mean annual atmospheric

CO2 concentration, from 315.83 parts per

million by volume (ppmv) of dry air in 1959 to

363.82 ppmv in 1997. WDC-A database

Selected Translated Abstracts of RussianLanguage Climate-Change Publications

CDIAC has published online Selected

Translated Abstracts of Russian-Language

Climate-Change Publications (http://

cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/cdiac/russeng1.html),

produced in collaboration with the All-Russian

Research Institute of Hydrometeorological

Information–World Data Center (Obninsk,

Russia). The four-volume series includes

 hundreds of abstracts on the topics of the

surface energy budget, clouds, aerosols, and

general circulation models. The series, produced

under the auspices of a 1972 U.S.-U.S.S.R.

agreement on protection of the environment,

opens up to western researchers a wealth of

climate-change literature that was previously

available only in Russian. 
Fall 1998

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 11

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MAPS Correlative CO Sampling Sites for April 1994

(Station DC8 is Not Included)

New Database Available

Typically, CDIAC checks all files that it receives and fully documents these files in the form of numeric

data packages (NDPs) or computer model packages (CMPs) before making them available to the general

public. CDIAC also offers databases (DBs) that have not been subjected to the normal CDIAC

quality-control procedures in order to make them available more quickly. The abstract that follows

describes the most recent database available from CDIAC. The database is available from CDIAC’s Web

site (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/), from CDIAC’s anonymous FTP area (cdiac.esd.ornl.gov), and in a

variety of media upon request. Files describing the contents of the database are provided, but no

additional documentation is available from CDIAC. Questions about accessing the database should be

directed to CDIAC; technical questions (e.g., methodology or accuracy) should be directed to the CDIAC

staff members responsible for preparing the database.

Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS) 1994 Correlative

Atmospheric Carbon Monoxide Mixing Ratios

Paul Novelli, NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL), Boulder, Colorado, and

Ken Masarie, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of

Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 

Prepared by: Linda Allison and Tom Boden, CDIAC

DB1020 (1998) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/db/db1020/db1020.html)

Carbon monoxide

(CO) mixing ratios in

the middle troposphere have been

examined for short

periods of time by

using the

Measurement of Air

Pollution from

Satellites (MAPS)

instrument. MAPS

measures CO from a

space platform, using

gas filter correlation

radiometry. During the

1981 and 1984 MAPS

flights, measurement

validation was attempted by comparing space

measurements of CO to those made in the

middle troposphere from aircraft. Before the

1994 MAPS flights, a correlative measurement

team comprised of eleven laboratories was

assembled to provide

NASA with results of

their CO field measurement programs during

the April and October

1994 missions. To maximize the usefulness of

the correlative data,

team members agreed to

participate in an intercomparison of CO

measurements.

The correlative data

provide an internally

consistent, ground-based

picture of CO in the

lower atmosphere during spring and fall 1994.

The data show the regional importance of two

CO sources, fossil-fuel burning in urbanized

areas and biomass burning in regions of the

Southern Hemisphere. WDC-A database
Fall 1998

12 CDIAC Communications

Databases Currently Available

Below is a summary of the databases currently available from CDIAC.

The ALE/GAGE/AGAGE Network, DB1001

Intercomparison of Radiation Codes in Climate

Models (ICRCCM) Infrared (Clear-Sky)

Line-by-Line Radiative Fluxes, DB1002 

A Computer-Based Atlas of Global Instrumental

Climate Data, DB1003

Alaskan Historical Climatology Network Serial

Temperature and Precipitation Data, DB1004

Forest Responses to Anthropogenic Stress

(FORAST) Database, DB1005

Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) 3-D

Global Tracer Transport Model, DB1006 

Atmospheric Methane at Cape Meares, Oregon,

USA: A High-Resolution Database for the

Period 1979 to 1992, DB1007

Atmospheric Methane Mixing Ratios: The

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) Climate Modeling and

Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL) Global

Cooperative Air-Sampling Network,

1983–1993, DB1008

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

(IPCC), Working Group 1, 1994: Modelling

Results Relating Future Atmospheric CO2

Concentrations to Industrial Emissions, DB1009

Globally Averaged Atmospheric CFC-11

Concentrations: Monthly and Annual Data for

1975 to 1992, DB1010

Atmospheric Carbon Monoxide Mixing Ratios,

NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics

Laboratory Cooperative Air Sampling Network,

1988 to 1993, DB1011

A Global 1 Degree by 1 Degree Distribution of

Atmospheric-Soil CO2 Consumption by

Continental Weathering and of Riverine HCO3

Yield, DB1012

Global and Latitudinal Estimates of 
13C from

Fossil-Fuel Consumption and Cement

Manufacture, DB1013

In Situ Carbon-13 and Oxygen-18 Ratios of

Atmospheric CO2 from Cape Grim, Tasmania,

Australia: 1982–1993, DB1014

Global Patterns of Carbon Dioxide Emissions

from Soils on a 0.5-Degree-Grid-Cell Basis,

DB1015

Global Population Distribution (1990),

Terrestrial Area, and Country Name Information

on a One-by-One-Degree Grid-Cell Basis,

DB1016

Northern Hemisphere Biome- and

Process-Specific Changes in Forest Area and

Gross Merchantable Volume: 1890–1990,

DB1017

A Comprehensive Database of Woody

Vegetation Responses to Elevated Atmospheric

CO2, DB1018

The Environmental Measurements Laboratory’s

Stratospheric Radionuclide (RANDAB) and

Trace Gas (TRACDAB) Databases, DB1019

Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites

(MAPS) 1994 Correlative Atmospheric Carbon

Monoxide Mixing Ratios, DB1020 
Fall 1998

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 13

Recent and Relevant

Carbon dioxide-related publications are available from CDIAC while supplies last. Please note: Several

publications listed in prior versions of the catalog are no longer distributed by CDIAC. DOE personnel

and DOE contractors should request those copies from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information

(OSTI), P.O. Box 62, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (http://www.osti.gov/). Other individuals may purchase

copies from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) (703-487-4650 or http://www.ntis.gov/)

in microfiche or hard copy; prices will vary with the number of pages. 

Catalog of Databases and Reports

Prepared by: Marvel Burtis, CDIAC

ORNL/CDIAC-34 (1998) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/catalog/index.htm)

Currently in its eighth revision, the Catalog of

Databases and Reports provides information

about the many data products and reports available through CDIAC, including the DOEsponsored research reports, CDIAC reports,

CDIAC Numeric Data Packages (NDPs) and

Computer Model Products (CMPs), and

databases (DBs). The catalog, as well as many

of the data products and reports listed in the

catalog, are available online in enhanced format

as HTML and/or PDF documents. 

Program Developed for CO2 System Calculations

Ernie Lewis and Doug Wallace, Department of Applied Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory,

Upton, New York

Prepared by: Linda Allison, CDIAC

CDIAC-105 (1998) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/oceans/co2rprt.html)

As ocean CO2 measurements become steadily

more accurate and investigators seek to evaluate

very small changes in concentrations, the issue

of how to calculate inorganic carbon speciation

in seawater has become very important. Over

the years there have been many determinations

and reviews of the constants used to describe the

dissociation of CO2 in the ocean, but no

universally accepted set of constants exists.

Several subtly different pH scales remain in

common use, as do variations in the definition

of total alkalinity (TA) and arguments over the

relative merits of reporting the partial pressure

(pCO2) versus the fugacity (fCO2) of CO2.
Fall 1998

14 CDIAC Communications

Intended to be of general use and perhaps help

to clear up some of this confusion, a recently

released program, CO2SYS, performs

calculations relating parameters of the carbon

dioxide system in seawater and freshwater. 

CO2SYS uses any two of the four measurable

parameters of the CO2 system to calculate the

other two parameters at a set of input conditions

(temperature and pressure) and a set of output

conditions chosen by the user. CO2SYS

replaces and extends upon a number of

programs previously released. CO2SYS may be

run on any 80 × 86 computer equipped with the

DOS operating system in single-input mode or

batch-input mode and has a variety of options

for the various constants and parameters used.

An on-screen information section is available 

that includes documentation on various topics

relevant to the program. 

Fiscal Year 1997 Annual Report

Robert Cushman, Thomas Boden, Sonja Jones, Dale Kaiser, and Tommy Nelson, CDIAC

Prepared by: Marvel Burtis, CDIAC

ORNL/CDIAC-106 (1998) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/cdiac/annintro.htm)

Each fiscal year, CDIAC staff reflect upon the

data center’s progress by producing an annual

report that documents highlights from the year

and goals for the coming year. The Fiscal Year

1997 Annual Report provides information on

new data products, publications, and additions

to CDIAC’s Web site and information on

CDIAC’s focus areas, and it provides statistics

on the center’s activities, such as the number of

requests for global-change data and information,

products requested, and citations in the

published literature of data obtained from

CDIAC. It also alerts users to new data products

that CDIAC hopes to release in Fiscal Year

1998, lists awards received by CDIAC and

publications and presentations of its staff, and

names the many organizations with which

CDIAC has collaborated to produce the data and

information products it released in fiscal year

1997.

Please note: Only a limited number of printed

copies are available upon request. 
Fall 1998

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 15

CDIAC’s Bookshelf

In the course of our work at CDIAC, many books and announcements cross our desks. Some of these are

highly specialized and may not get a broad announcement to the worldwide scientific community, so

we’d like to mention them here. CDIAC does not stock or distribute these publications.

Our Changing Planet: The Fiscal Year 1999

U.S. Global Change Research Program

(Committee on Environment and Natural

Resources, National Science and Technology

Council, Washington, D.C., 1998, 130 pp.)

Copies of Our Changing Planet are available

from the Global Change Research Information

Office (GCRIO), P.O. Box 1000, 61 Route 9W,

Palisades, NY 10964. It is also available online

at (http://gcrio.ciesin.org/ocp99/toc.html) 

Global Change Education Program (GCEP)

In an effort to promote and support the quality

of emerging scientists in disciplines related to

global change research, the DOE’s Office of

Biological and Environmental Research (OBER)

has established the Global Change Education

Program (GCEP). Global change research

supported by OBER through various programs

includes areas ranging from the atmospheric

sciences, ecology, global carbon cycles,

climatology, and terrestrial processes to

integrated assessments, predictions, policy,

paleoclimatology and earth system processes.

A major goal of GCEP is to involve undergraduate students in their sophomore or junior

year and to continue the experience during subsequent years. The program is made up of three

parts: (1) the Summer Undergraduate Research

Experience (SURE), (2) the Graduate Research

Environmental Fellowships (GREF), and (3) the

Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric

Research and Science (SOARS) program. SURE

and SOARS are designed to support undergraduate students during multiple years, with

those students being encouraged to apply for the

GREF graduate fellowships and post-doctoral

study programs.

Important aspects of the SURE and GREF programs include development of organizational

and written skills needed for scientific work and

research proposals, as well as the assignment of

mentors from across the global change research

areas. The SURE and GREF programs are

scheduled to begin in the summer of 1999.

The SOARS program is designed to increase

ethnic diversity within the scientific community
Fall 1998

16 CDIAC Communications

by providing educational and research opportunities, mentoring, career counseling and guidance, and financial support to those accepted.

Five students are currently supported by GCEP

in the SOARS program.

Dr. Jeff Gaffney of Argonne National Laboratory is the grand mentor for GCEP. Mr. Peter

Lunn is the OBER funding officer responsible

for GCEP. For further information, contact Jeff

Gaffney (gaffney@anl.gov) or visit the GCEP

Web site (http://www.atmos.anl.gov/GCEP/). 

Reference Materials for Oceanic

Carbon Dioxide Measurements

Continued from p. 1

been made: certified reference materials are now

available for the measurement of total dissolved

inorganic carbon and total alkalinity in sea

water.

Reference materials are stable substances for

which one or more properties have been

established sufficiently well to calibrate a

chemical analyzer or to validate a measurement

process. The ideal reference material for oceanic

carbon dioxide studies is a sterilized natural sea

water that has been assayed for the various

carbon system parameters and that remains

stable once packaged. 

My laboratory (in collaboration with that of

Dr. C. D. Keeling) has been supported by the

U.S. National Science Foundation since 1989 to

develop methods to prepare and certify such

materials. Twenty thousand bottles of reference

materials have now been distributed to a wide

variety of laboratories both within the United

States and in nineteen other countries. They are 

used extensively to confirm that instruments are

performing properly and to ensure measurement

compatibility. The U.S. Department of Energy

(DOE) recognized the value of such a program

and actively incorporated the use of reference

materials as part of the quality assurance

activities associated with its U.S. JGOFS Global

Carbon Dioxide Survey (1991–1997). We

supplied the seagoing investigators with

reference materials and also helped to develop

guidelines for their use as part of an overall

quality control plan.

This focus on quality control is paying off handsomely. The oceanic carbon dioxide results

obtained by the DOE-funded survey and by the

various other U.S. JGOFS activities are of

significantly higher quality than those of any

previous study. Taken together, they will

provide the basis for an unambiguous estimate

of the fate of fossil fuel carbon dioxide in the

oceans of the world to date, as well as offer

needed insights into the workings of the oceanic

carbon cycle.

(For more information about the Oceanic

Carbon Dioxide Reference Materials Program,

check the Web site http://www-mpl.ucsd.edu/

people/adickson/CO2_QC/). 
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Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 19

Related DOE Programs

Listed below are Home Pages of DOE Programs related to CDIAC that are available online via the

Internet.

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program

http://www.archive.arm.gov/

Computer Hardware, Advanced Mathematics and Model Physics Program

 http://www.epm.ornl.gov/chammp/

NARSTO

 http://www.cgenv.com/Narsto/

Long-term Flux Measurement Network of the Americas (AmeriFlux)

 http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/programs/ameriflux/

Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE)

 http://www.face.bnl.gov/

Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison

 http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/ 
CDIAC Communications

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Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6335, U.S.A.

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